Where is she now?

Anyone still looking for me?

2006-05-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

It's very sad...25 people used to read me when I was here, now only 8 do, at least according to Bloglines. Sad.

Anyhow, if you want to add me to your RSS aggregator/feedreader/whatever, here is the URL you need:

http://mrsfife.wordpress.com/feed/

Apparently you need that last feed/ thingy some times. I hope I see some more readers.

Moving, please change your links

2006-04-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

In case I wasn't clear in my last post, I'm moving to http://mrsfife.wordpress.com and anyone who has me on their blogrolls may please change their links accordingly.

Thanks!

They have categories and smilies! Enough said.

Joining the bandwagon

2006-04-13T00:41:00.000-07:00

Everyone's doing it, so why not me? I've transferred my allegiance to Wordpress.
Transferred all my posts and comments, and being the anal retentive that I am, I'm also working on categorising all the archived posts.

Squeak!

2006-04-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

This is what you'd call a narrow squeak:

Notice how close I've come to the end of the yarn on this front panel. Luckily, I have this in store:

that my SP sent me. Yay!

We are now on sleeve #2. Heee.

Most of my projects are determined by the amount of yarn I have rather than anything else.

Oh darn!

2006-04-07T00:58:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you don't read a pattern fully before plunging in. Darn.

I've just gone through the Short rows jacket pattern again and realised what I thought was the back is actually one front panel. Daaaaaaaaaaarn. And dang.

So, am I frogging? Nope.

This little baby will just have to be inventively worked. Darn. It will entail picking up stitches on the other side. It just shows you that a more experienced (or attentive) knitter would have known how such patterns work and would have cast on for the front anyway.

If only the pattern had said "Cast on 60 sts for the front right (or left) panel."

Anyhow, since my yarn is a thicker gauge than the one in the pattern, the 30 ridges called for in the pattern would be too broad a front panel and I'd have to modify the pattern in any case. So I do it now. Darn.

Young lady, let that be a lesson to you!

Bunnies!

2006-04-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

The other day, my vegetable vendor was selling bunnies! Real, will-grow-up-to-be-rabbits bunnies. I immediately drooled all over them and proceeded to pet each of them. There were two gray ones, one black and one cowering white one which never showed its face. One of the gray ones was up on the fruit shelf making merry among the grapes. The black one was giving me black looks and I hesitated to touch it at first because it scared me. Supposing it bit me? Do bunnies bite people?
I've never touched anything so soft in my life! I wish I could get them home with me. But bunnies seem less hmmm interesting than cats somehow. Do they have personalities? I also read somewhere they don't like being held, which will defeat the primary purpose in getting them, which is to cuddle. Also, do they make any sort of noise at all?
But that softness! sigh.........

Hey, look! A sleeve!

2006-04-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

See, on the right of the picture, you see a sleeve! Yippee.

Working the short rows on both the cuff end and the neck end, it is just a wee bit confusing, but I will persist. I've made a bit more progress on the sleeve since the picture was taken.

Is it just me or does anyone else think the sleeve seems too short? Ah well, I can always pass them off as 3/4 length ones or something.

Crochet FO

2006-04-06T23:37:00.000-07:00

It's a ripple doormat! Finally managed to finish something with the rectangle ripple pattern. The colour is more purple than the dull nothingness in the picture.
Yarn: RH SS Dusk Rose (?) and RH Aran fleck, each with two strands held together. Not full skeins.
Hook: Size K 6.50mm Crystalite
Pattern: Ripple stitch, 62sts wide
Time: Overnight
Size: About 27" long and 18" wide
Extra: First ripple and nice, too.
Also nicer than the so-called Half Circle that I made with the same yarn in January.

Yarn stores in India

2006-04-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

Desiknitter wanted to know about yarn stores in India. So here is a list that we at the Crochet_India group have gathered so far (and some of these stores include thread-only stores as well):

Bangalore
Bombay Embroidery Stores,14, Raja Market, Avenue Road,
Bangalore - 560 002 22237311

Bombay
Pradhan Stores
Bora Bazaar

Chennai
Raja Thread Store

Chennai
R S fancy Stores
Adyar opp Telephone Exchange

Chennai
Adyar Thread Emporium

Hyderabad
B S Kamaladevi & Sons
4-3-747 Sultan Bazar Hyderabad
24754468

New Delhi
New Kalpana Tracers
Shop No. 120 (Opp Vegetable market),
Sarojini Nagar Market
2410 1702/2467 8396

New Delhi
Sushila (wool depot?)
Munirka Mkt

Pune
New Galaxy
Wonderland, Pune - Camp

Visakhapatnam
Rathi Stores
Poorna Market,
In lane opp Aarif Opticians

Visakhapatnam
Sivam Garments
Next to HSL colony gate, Malkapuram

No, laughing is not allowed. We take what we get.

And Desi, Vardhman does make fun fur and feathery types of yarns and I didn't know this either until J from Lucknow sent me some. There are colours, also, apparently. I have to confess *shamefacedly* that I've never knowingly used Indian wool, either. But it is available in northern cities in various qualities. Yarn snobbery, yarn stores, stash...a bit unreal, what?

See Eunny Knit!

2006-04-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Here I am discovering all sorts of treasures in the knitting blog world. Eunny has great tutorials and other info for knitting lace. Too bad I didn't see it before I made that scarf/stole.

Adventures of a Desi Knitter

2006-04-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

Adventures of a Desi Knitter
Yes! I finally found a fellow Indian knit blogger. Yay! Go on check her out, she's got beautiful knitting happening.

It's not pretty

2006-04-05T00:16:00.000-07:00

Here are my adventures in wrapping rows for short row shaping. It's not pretty, so if you're at all squeamish, please turn away now!

The first two pictures show the piece (it's the back of the jacket) from two different angles, and so far, it's ok. If you squint, you can even see the shaping.

Now the thing approaches (this photo shows the true colour of the Froya Narvik, by the way) and you begin to shudder:

Yikes! See what I mean?

And this:

Now off you go and look at some pretty knitting instead! And no, I am not going to frog this. No.

Too bulky

2006-04-05T00:06:00.000-07:00

Here is what I tried with the ggh Aspen. First the pattern is very poorly written, and then the yarn is too chunky for this, I think.
I spent hours googling for an explanation of the honeycomb stitch, not very successfully. Then I found it in my Harmony Guide, but I needed the diagram to understand what to do. In any event, I found I'd soon run out of yarn if I attempted to go any further on this, so it's waiting to be frogged.

Naaah. This yarn is still in search of a good pattern to be shown off, and something tells me it might be knit. This bit took an entire skein!

Stash bag

2006-04-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

This was the bag that Viji gifted me for my stash. Nice! Handmade by a lady in Pune.

New tenant

2006-04-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

A new tenant from Indonesia over there on the right side ----> Go and check it out!

What a neat concept!

2006-03-31T11:02:00.000-08:00

Got this from Grumperina's blog and I'm about 3 months outdated, but what a neat concept! If it weren't scarves and shrugs, maybe I'd join the next one. What do you think, Cordelia? A lacy-ish cardigan would be nice and I can't seem to bring myself to finish anything of that size for myself. What a nice concept. Will there be a next one?

Short rows

2006-03-31T01:18:00.000-08:00

Still on knitting. I'm trying out the short row technique on this pattern: Short rows baby jacket

It doesn't look too bad...Using the grey Froya Narvik 100% wool (no indications of any allergic reaction, thank you) with 3.75mm needles. The lightbulb hasn't yet gone off in my head for this technique, though it seems logical enough. 3 ways to wrap, only tried one yet.

Here is how it looks so far:

I think I'm confusing myself because I'm trying to work simultaneously from the pattern as well as tutorials for the technique from the original site, from knitty.com and so on, plus there's some wrapping instruction in the pattern as well. Too many teachers.
The shaping is happening, but I don't think it would stand up to closer scrutiny.

Goldmine!

2006-03-29T09:45:00.000-08:00

I was browsing knitting podcasts and came across this gem:
let me explaiKnit

It's got detailed notes on several knitting issues and I've not read them all yet! I hope she's got a tutorial in there somewhere for circular needles...What a find!

Edited to add:
I got the link from Pointy Sticks.
There's so much knitting wealth out there. Where have I been all this while?!

Then there is Nona as well.

Fluffy but dangerous

2006-03-29T00:09:00.000-08:00

It's Mr. B's birthday coming up, so off you go and wish him, please!

This grew on my needles

2006-03-28T02:14:00.000-08:00

Remember the fun-furry yarns that J had sent me from Lucknow? Well, both have been needled. One is yet a UFO, but the blue feather type got made into this mini scarf for my poor neglected SP. It feels really soft. Knit in garter stitch throughout on straights.

Yarn: Vardhman funfur-ry 1 50gm ball
Hook: Size 7 (UK?) 4.50mm straights
Pattern: Garter stitch, 24 sts wide
Time: Overnight
Size: About 36" long and 5" wide
Extra: Knitting is best for fur-type yarns. The simplicity of the garter stitch shows the texture well.

On a closer look, the yarn looks like something to do with chickens...

Sold!

2006-03-27T23:40:00.000-08:00

Following the lead of Sara, I've sold space on my blog and my first tenant is Full Metal Photographer who has some interesting photos. Go pay him a visit!

Enough

2006-03-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

I've become bored with reading all the mails about Michaels closing and also about Mainstays being discontinued and about the 8oz skeins now becoming 7 oz skeins.
We don't get any of those here, so it's all academic anyway. And it increases the feeling of Alice Through the Looking Glass that I get most of the time from reading about all those brands and shops.

Oh well, now I've become one of those irritable slapper-downers. Sigh.

OFO or NLSWIP

2006-03-23T05:48:00.000-08:00

Remember the SWIP I talked about long long ago when we were all young and innocent? Well, it has graduated now from being a SWIP to an NLSWIP (No Longer a Secret Work in Progress) or an OFO (Open Finished Object). Three cheers for me!
Here it is in part of its glory (it was too long for me to photograph in one frame horizontally without employing a step ladder and/or stilts).

So now you know, it is a Lacy Knit Scarf (or maybe a Stole? We're not particular here) in what is probably 100% acrylic, but very soft mango-y yellow, and it is going to be sent to a friend. I'm thrilled to bits for several reasons:

1. It's knit! (as in, not crocheted!)
2. It's lacy knit!
3. It's lacy knit without a written pattern and from a chart!
4. It's lacy knit from a chart I manipulated in order to get it to the width I wanted!
5. Yippee!
6. It's knit! (as in, It's done!)
And so forth.

Here is how it might look on a person...

...if the said person has shoulders about a foot wide and does not rise more than 3 feet above the ground. Now, I think the recipient is definitely not these proportions, but I'm sure I shall be forgiven for my first attempt at such a project. We shall see. Anyhow, here are the tech specs:

Yarn: Unknown acrylic in mango-y yellow
Hook: Size 7 (UK?) 4.50mm straights
Pattern: Made up my very own! (Yippee!)
Time: Aeons
Size: About 60" long and 10" wide
Extra: #Look at points 1-6 above

Nobody will please mention the trifling errors I made or the weird proportions. Or the fact that I probably yarn over all wrong. The thing is you see (all those with more important things to do may please leave now), I knit with the yarn in my right hand and for normal stitches I yarn over from under (clear as mud, aren't I). But for the lace-effect YOs, I tend to YO from over! Got that? Plus, according to the instructions in the book where I got the lace pattern from, I was supposed to do K1, P1 into the YO on the subsequent row. Being as I'd reversed the direction of my YO, I did P1, K1, since it was more convenient! So I think it's all wrong, but *shrug* it's got the look! And I sort of know how to use a chart to knit now. Yay!

And although it is acrylic, I did block it, on the sage advice of the scientific mind. The lace needed to be opened up.

Cross 2 off the list

2006-03-23T05:42:00.000-08:00

Now I know:
#1 What is a blighted ovum
#2 How a miscarriage feels

That's two things I can cross off my "Try-everything-once-in-life" list. Yay! Maybe that's 3 (for #3 Get pregnant). There are so many things that can happen to you and you haven't even heard of them till they do. Amazing.

What's that?

2006-03-10T23:09:00.000-08:00

A book! Yes, a tome found its way to my house today courtesy Indian Post, Bookcrossing, and a bookring (or is it a bookray?) started by a certain someone in Bombay. And it is this book:

A nice juicy British mystery! The stuff of my dreams! (Yes, I do have some weird dreams, partly why I enjoy sleeping so much.)